Queman el Diablo

ANTIGUA, Guatemala--Maybe I was a little too close. After all, I was able to smell the gasoline they used to set fire to the devil, and at least one of the flying cinders hit me. The firefighters were certainly farther away.

At 6 p.m. on December 7, Guatemalans burn the devil. (Why 6 p.m.? No one has been able to explain that to me--just because that's when it's done.) Supposedly, the custom began in 1776 in Antigua, when people set fires outside their homes to light the way for a procession in honor of the Immaculate Conception, the feast of the Virgin Mary that is celebrated December 8.

The custom now is followed throughout the country. The idea is that you take the trash out of the house and burn it, to symbolize cleaning out all the bad things from the previous year and preparing for Christmas. These days, they try to discourage individual fires. For instance, there was an article in one newspaper today about all the environmental damage such fires can do if people burn plastics, tires and the like.

Instead, the sanctioned way to follow the custom these days is for a town to burn a replica of a devil--a  statue, a paper figure or the like. Here in Antigua, a papier mache-looking statue of a devil has been set up on the edge of town for more than a week. For the actual ceremony today, they moved him about a block. (The plaza where he was originally situated is bordered by two gas stations. Go figure.)

People gathered about an hour in advance, to eat street food and plant the kids in a spot with a good view. One of the traditional bands that usually plays in religious processions serenaded the crowd, which eventually filled about three blocks. Vendors sold devil horns (very popular). The master of ceremonies also wore a devil costume. I'm not quite sure why, since the idea was to annihilate the devil. Still.

After some satiric comments by MC Devil, someone set flame to the gasoline-soaked sticks that surrounded the devil statue. He went up with loud cracks, as if some firecrackers had been stuck inside the papier mache. The TV newscasters who were broadcasting live kept talking, although I think at least one of them moved a few feet away when the flames were at their crackling-est.

As the fire died down, some of the crowd dispersed. Others remained to eat more street food and watch a nearby performance by some scantily-clad Gallo Girls (young women sponsored by the big beer company) who danced on a street stage to loud contemporary Latin music.

The devil-burning was the big attraction of the night, but as I walked home, I skirted several little fires set in the streets outside houses, in what I'm guessing is the traditional manner. Several hours later, firecrackers are still going off somewhere nearby, and people are still wandering the streets in devil horns.